Thursday, August 20, 2015

Tonight I watched the 1984 prep-school comedy movie "Making the Grade" for the first time. I was especially taken with the wardrobe of Gordon Jump, who played the headmaster (and is best remembered, of course, as the inept but lovable Mr. Carlson on WKRP in Cincinnati). Natural-shouldered tweed jackets and navy blazers, oxford cloth button-downs and repp ties -- the stereotypical (and sadly dying) Eastern Establishment uniform -- with some silk pocket squares thrown in for an extra touch of flamboyant elegance.

I was so impressed that I took some screen-grabs. (Unfortunately the on-screen displays apparently don't disappear on YouTube videos when they're paused, so I had to grab these while the movie was playing, which produced some less than flattering facial expressions. Oh, well -- the point is the clothes.) I wish I regularly saw men this well-dressed today!

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

I'm always on the lookout for style blogs I've never seen before.Last week I came across one from an M.D. who calls himself "The Big Sartorialist." (I think one of the Tumblr blogs I already followed posted something on theirs that he had posted on his, but I've already forgotten which one.)For my taste, he looks a little too stiff, neat and uncomfortable, as well as often too "matchy" (as you'll see, he often matches the background color of his tie, pocket square and socks -- and sometimes even integrates them with the color of his suit's pinstripes) and a little too flashy.But he still looks good overall, and certainly a lot better than the average person. He also obviously puts a lot of money into his wardrobe, and he's confident in what he likes. Good for him -- there's no reason that his style has to be the same as mine.

However, what struck me most about his blog was not his style, but the apparently near-daily harassment he gets from other people about his clothes; his blog is largely a "What I wore today" blog, and he often posts a quote of something someone said to him that day about what he was wearing, frequently followed by the quote of his snarky come-back.Why do some people feel the need to comment on other people's clothes? People like him don't normally go up to strangers and say, "Why are you dressed like s--t?", so why is the reverse acceptable?I'll try to write a follow-up post soon, exploring this phenomenon in more detail. In the meantime, congratulations to The Big Sartorialist for continuing to fight the good fight.